NBA Draft 2013: What they're saying around the league

With the 2013 NBA Draft just two days away, time is running out for teams to get their ducks in a row before making their selections Thursday evening.

Here's a breakdown of potential draftees, trade rumors and other notable items around the league for your Tuesday afternoon:

» The Cleveland Cavaliers have the top pick in the draft for the second time in three years. In 2011, the Cavaliers drafted budding superstar guard Kyrie Irving first overall and can only hope to strike gold once again with their first selection in 2013.

In a podcast with cleveland.com's Glenn Moore, Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer discusses the Cavaliers options with their first-overall pick. Pluto's gut tells him Cleveland will take Maryland big-man Alex Len, but Moore contends the Cavaliers may end up making a pre-draft trade involving the No. 1 pick.

Chances are, you probably had no idea who Victor Oladipo was a year ago.

Probably you heard little about his aggressive defense, his explosive leaping abilities or his natural leadership.

And, probably, he should thank every last one of you for ignoring him.

"That's what drives him," said Oladipo's DeMatha (Md.) High School coach, Mike Jones. "He just kept working. Any time you're hammering away at a tree with an ax, it doesn't seem like you're making any progress. But on that 300th swing, you might break through."

» The Detroit Pistons hold the eighth overall pick in Thursday's draft, a position the Pistons are familiar with, having drafted Brandon Knight of Kentucky at No. 8 in 2011. The jury's still out on whether or not Knight will pan out as a Piston, but mLive.com's Brendan Savage took a look back at the last 20 No. 8 picks to see how others have fared.

» 2006: Rudy Gay, Houston

A genuine star, has started 432 of 434 games for Memphis and Toronto since coming off the bench for part of his rookie campaign. Last season, when he was part of a three-team trade that included the Pistons, Gay averaged 18.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.5 steals. For his career, Gay is averaging 18.0 points and 5.8 rebounds.

» 2004: Rafael Araujo, Toronto

NBA career ended after three seasons that saw him start 75 of 139 games for the Raptors and Utah. He averaged 2.8 points and 2.8 rebounds before spending the last six seasons playing overseas.

» New York Knicks shooting guard J.R. Smith's free agency situation is making waves in the days leading up to the draft (from NJ.com's Tony Williams). It appears Smith opt out of the final year of his contract with the Knicks, opening the door for the Knicks — or any other team — to offer him a new contract.

"We only had one workout and the reason we one had one workout is that it's hard to get guys to come in and work out for you," Demps said. "The guys that think they're top two, three picks don't want to work out for a team with the sixth pick. And guys who may be projected eight to 12 don't think you're going to take them so they don't want to waste their time.

"We were prepared for that. And this year we went into the college season and international season thinking that 'Let's just prepare as if we're not going to get anyone to work out. Let's make sure we do all our work, we see guys live, we do all our interviews, we do our background on these guys and we'll be prepared for the draft.' That's how we feel we are right now."

Another longtime Celtic possibly on the way out of Beantown is Paul Pierce, who is attracting trade attention leading up to the draft. Most notably from the Cavaliers, who might be looking to grab Pierce in exchange for their No. 1-overall draft pick.

If the Cavaliers decided to part ways with a future first-rounder (reportedly, they're prepared to offer two second-rounders), they would be an interesting fit. Note: They won just 24 games last season, but with Kyrie Irving, the No. 1 pick, Tristan Thompson (who quietly put together a solid sophomore season), and Anderson Varejao (who's a rebounding menace when healthy, but has serious troubles staying on the court), they have a few nice pieces. They also have oodles of cap space, meaning they could potentially take on Pierce's contract without sending Boston any money -- a detail that would surely please Ainge as he looks to shave the Celtics' payroll.

» The Portland Trail Blazers hold four picks in Thursday's draft but may use them as bargaining chips along with LaMarcus Aldridge, who has been named in trade discussions. (From OregonLive.com's Sean Meagher)

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